Well-known League of Legends coach Neace has announced he is taking a break from streaming and YouTube content creation.
In a Neace YouTube video titled ‘Goodbye… for now’, the 34-year-old said he doesn’t currently know if or when he’ll return, but that he has no regrets. He also said his video editors will be taking a break too.
“I’ve been doing content for ten years,” Neace explained. “I came to terms with the reality that I’m very proud and happy where I’ve taken League coaching and educational content, and I have no intention of just quitting completely for the rest of my life.
“But right now, it’s not League or whether or not I want to play it, it’s more just the thought of getting on a camera with a bright light on my face and talking about a video game, with people judging my every move, critiquing my voice, dealing with the ‘is he good enough, is he right enough, is he wrong enough, is he this or that enough’…
“At the moment, I’m in a particular state of vulnerability, and to be honest, [creating content] is the last thing I want to do right now. It’s the closing of a chapter that deserves an intermission.”
Neace
“It’s very scary stepping away and taking care of yourself, but I know it’s the right thing to do. I don’t really want to say what I’m gonna do [next], but I’m safe, I’m fine and I’m happy.”
While he’s stepping back from producing content, Neace said he still intends to coach privately ‘but I’m gonna put a pretty high premium on that time because this is a recovery period for me’.
Neace’s announcement comes following waves of heavy criticism from some in the competitive LoL community in recent years over the price of Neace’s coaching sessions. He’s charged $350 for 90 minutes of private coaching or $250 for an on-stream session.
Despite this, many people have praised him for his coaching, and he has a host of free coaching videos on YouTube, which have amassed around 150m views overall across both of his channels, as well as cheaper bootcamp offerings for multiple players at once.
The announcement also comes a few weeks after Neace announced he is going through a divorce, and he stressed that he and his ex are both happy to move on.
‘There’s no need for elitism’ – Neace calls for greater unity in esports and better acceptance of others in goodbye video
Neace also spoke about his views on the broader esports community and how some within it are elitist, and called for greater acceptance going forwards.
“Please understand the steps we’ve taken here are steps to a more sustainable esports ecosystem,” Neace said. “A lot of people don’t like me because of various reasons, but one of the more common reasons I see is that I was an outsider. I was older, I wasn’t a pro, I wasn’t in an in-crowd and I made videos for people that aren’t good [at League of Legends].
“There is a world where everybody can exist in gaming. There’s no need for elitism, for people to close each other off, and if truly you want to see esports be a thing that rivals real sports and makes people want to revisit it, people need to realise that it’s not all about pros. It’s people’s hobby and passion – and they want to be involved in it without being overwhelmed by it.
“Your time is valuable, if you spend ten years doing something, you should be paid comparable to the amount of effort you’ve put in. I want everyone who can succeed in esports to succeed in esports.”
Neace
“I never felt bad about monetising my time. Do not let elitist gamers who are mad they did not leverage their time fool you. They did not respect themselves or honour their work enough to get something back for their time.
“Know your worth. People are gonna tell you that you’re not worth shit, especially when you pursue something that no one else will. Life’s short, push yourself a little bit, learn something and come away from your experiences having tried.”
Neace thanked his coaches, editors and supporters, and said he hopes when he makes videos again, they will come back. He also gave a shoutout to fellow content creator Dantes for being there for him.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
